• Francisco Liriano felt good after a 78-pitch bullpen session Monday and he will progress to throwing BP Wednesday. The Twins think he’ll be back in the rotation on September 14, and they will need him badly if they hope to make the postseason.
• Anyone else going crazy trying to figure out the Tampa Bay closing situation? Seth McClung seemed to be getting the job done, and the Rays are even thinking of sending him to the Venezuelan Winter League to gain more experience in the role. But now suddenly, manager Joe Maddon wants to see how Edwin Jackson would fare closing games. And Juan Salas was just called up, another pitcher many believe has closer stuff. This does not even factor in the pitcher I believe is best suited for the job — Chad Orvella. It’s going to fun on draft day 2007 trying to sort out who will be saving games for the Rays.
• Delmon Young, after a simply ridiculous 8-for-11 start to his career, has gone 2-for-16 since. Still, a .355 mark for your first week and change of MLB action is nothing to sneeze at. It’s still conceivable that Young is up for grabs in your shallow mixed league, but he won’t be for long.
• Mike Stanton, who was ineffective in his lefty set-up role in Washington, has been reborn on the west coast. Improved command has been the tonic for better results, and with Armando Benitez struggling with a litany of injuries, Stanton has swooped in to grab the closer reins for now. He’s a tremendous pickup in any size NL-only league and a good play in deeper mixed leagues.
• Rocco Baldelli is starting to run again, and that makes him a great pickup in mixed leagues. He has a seven-game hitting streak and has swiped four bases over that stretch. Do note, however, that Baldelli has been bothered by occasional hammy issues.

Get RotoRob by Email: Enter your email below to receive daily updates direct to your inbox. Only a pink taco wouldn’t subscribe.

By RotoRob
This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 5th, 2006 at 5:02 pm and is filed under BASEBALL, Fantasy Notes, RotoRob. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.